No association of BMI and body adiposity with cardiometabolic biomarkers among a small sample of reindeer herders of sub-Arctic Finland

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Cara Ocobock, Päivi Soppela, Minna T. Turunen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2022
• Subjects: body mass index; body adiposity; cardiometabolic health; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Circumpolar Health; International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2021.2024960; https://doaj.org/article/a4aa052b1f4a4838b7194a4b271e6e98

The rising global obesity rate is alarming due to its real health and socioeconomic consequences. Finland, like other circumpolar regions, is also experiencing a rise in obesity . Here we assess BMI, body adiposity, and measures of cardiometabolic health among a small population of reindeer herders in sub-Arctic Finland. We collected anthropometric and biomarker measures at two different time points: October 2018 (N = 20) and January 2019 (N = 21) with a total of 25 unique individuals across the data collection periods (ages 20–64). Anthropometric measures included height, weight, age, and body composition. Biomarkers included measures of cholesterol, fasting glucose, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Over 70% of this sample was classified as “overweight” and “obese” as categorised by BMI and 64% classified as “overfat” based on body fat percentage. However, there was no significant relationship between BMI and body fat percentage with any of the measured biomarkers. Although the sample size is small, the results of this study suggest there might not be a strong correlation between BMI, body adiposity, and cardiometabolic health indices within this population – a pattern that has been documented elsewhere. However, further study is needed to confirm this lack of a correlation.